


We're Running Out of Time

by So_Many_Feelings



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Forgiveness, Post-season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 12:30:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13951587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/So_Many_Feelings/pseuds/So_Many_Feelings
Summary: After it becomes clear Cersei won't help in the upcoming war against the White Walkers Jaime decides to leave King’s Landing to join the army of Winterfell. However, he doesn't have the best relationship with Jon or Daenerys and he needs Brienne's help to convince them to let him stay.





	We're Running Out of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, sorry I haven’t been writing as much the past few months. Between school and work I haven’t had a ton of time to write for fun, but I’m hoping that during break I’ll have more time to write.

As he rode his horse towards Winterfell all Jaime could think of was the series of events that had led him to travel to a place he had hoped he would never need to return to again.

 

His sister was lost to him. Cersei was so consumed by her desire to hold on to her throne that she no longer cared that it would lead to the destruction of the Seven Kingdoms. Jaime could no longer pretend Cersei  was the same girl he’d fallen in love with when he was younger. While he’d always known his relationship with his sister was wrong, in his youth he had been able to pretend that as twisted as their connection was his sister was worth everything, worth the the risk and the dishonor. 

 

Now, though, he could not picture the young maiden who had become a constant in his life. Cersei had always been a determined woman, but now all he could think of was Aerys Targaryen when he watched the alarming gleam in her eyes when she talked about wiping out all potential threats, even if it meant the end of the realm.

 

Jaime could no longer sit idly by and wait to see how the war between the North and the White Walkers played out. What his sister apparently failed to realize, despite her claims of intellectual superiority, was that there would be no land for her to rule over if Jon Snow and Daenerys were unsuccessful. 

 

When he had been a young knight he had made the choice to kill Aerys for the sake of the realm. It had earned him an infamous reputation as the Kingslayer, but what everyone failed to realize is that Jaime had done what he needed to keep the kingdom safe. He didn’t know if he had the strength to make the same decision where Cersei was concerned, but he knew he had to do something to help protect the realm. 

 

He also knew that Winterfell would bring him closer to the person who had always encouraged him to be better.

 

***

 

“Brienne, when we return home I’ll need you to help train the residents of Winterfell. I think it will be especially helpful for the women to learn how to defend themselves against the White Walkers. After all, we can’t simply rely on you and Arya to help defend the North.”

 

“Yes m’lady,” Brienne replied to Sansa, “that sounds like a lovely idea.” 

 

Normally the thought of training would excite Brienne, and she would always be an advocate for women learning at least a few maneuvers to defend themselves from the many dangers that existed in Westeros. 

 

However, their meeting in King’s Landing had left Brienne feeling more anxious than she would have cared to admit to anyone.

 

She saw Jaime for the first time since they had been prepared to fight each other at Riverrun. Brienne hadn’t known whether or not to look at him, she hadn’t wanted to think about the strong possibility that they may end up fighting on opposing sides once again. 

 

Then there had been Cersei. Brienne knew how much influence the queen had over her brother, and she also knew that Cersei was not afraid to taunt her about her odd friendship with Jaime. 

 

Not that Brienne should have cared what Cersei thought of her, even if her interactions with the queen left her feeling like the insecure young girl she’d once been.

 

So lost in her own thoughts, Brienne hadn’t noticed the people in front of her slowly coming to a stop on their horses. She was about to ask Podrick about their sudden stop when she saw someone traveling through the crowd in the opposite direction.

 

Despite his worn down appearance, Jaime Lannister was sitting on his horse with his normal confident posture. As if he wasn’t technically in enemy territory. 

 

“What are the chances you’d be able to get me an audience with Queen Daenerys?”

 

***

 

Jaime hadn’t known the Dragon Queen for long, but he knew that she seemed willing to forgive past actions against her family for the sake of the upcoming fight against the White Walkers. Granted, Jaime may have just been trying to convince himself that his plan wasn’t stupid. That he hadn’t left King’s Landing to join Winterfell’s army only to be killed by a vindictive.

 

Granted, killing her father probably gave her a valid reason to want Jaime dead, regardless of whatever help he could have provided.

When he finally reached her tent Brienne seemed reluctant to leave him. And if he was being completely honest he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to leave him either. While everyone knew the story of how he’d killed Aerys, she was the only one who knew that what he’d done wasn’t an attempt to gain power for himself or his family. It was done out of fear that the king would destroy King’s Landing.

 

He didn’t know if Daenerys would accept his reasoning, but perhaps Brienne could try to help him explain. 

 

“Do you want me to go in with you?”

 

Thank the gods she was the one to ask.

 

***

 

Both Jon and Daenerys were in the tent when they entered. Neither looked particularly pleased to see Jaime, but Brienne’s presence seemed to discourage them from immediately killing him.

 

“What are you doing here Kingslayer?” the King in the North, his voice as icy as the forest air.

 

Brienne had seen the lengths Jon Snow would go to to protect his family, and to avenge them.  She remembered the during the battle over Winterfell how Jon had charged towards Ramsay Bolton and nearly beaten him to a pulp, completely consumed by his rage until Sansa had intervened. 

 

And Jaime had tried to kill Bran.

 

“Believe it or not I came here to help” Jaime retorted. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you could definitely use it.”

 

It was all Brienne could do to not smack him for resorting to sarcasm during such a serious meeting.

 

“How do we know this isn’t a trap, that you aren’t here to spy on us so your sister will know how to defeat us if we somehow manage to win this battle against the White Walkers?” Jon asked.

 

“You’ll just need to trust me” Jaime replied solemnly. 

 

“You can’t blame us for being suspicious considering your history with our families,” Daenerys declared, “Bran Stark was fortunate to survive being pushed from that tower, and you killed my father even though you were charged with protecting him. Your family helped orchestrate the slaughter of the Targaryen line, even of innocent children.”

  
  


Jaime looked like he had some other witty response planned, and hoping to diffuse the situation, Brienne intervened before he could do anything stupid. 

 

“ I know you resent him for your father’s death, your grace, but your father was going to destroy King’s Landing. While the Lannister family certainly profited from your family’s demise that’s not why Jaime killed your father. He was only trying to protect people. However, I need to state that I feel Jaime Lannister has shown in the past that he’s capable of being an honorable man. When Lady Stark wanted to trade him in exchange for Sansa and Arya he helped me try to find them. Not to mention the fact that he went back to Harrenhal in order to save me when he didn’t need to do so. I can’t pretend that he has always made the best choices in the past, that he has not hurt people we have cared about. But I know him and I know that he cares about the safety of the citizens of Westeros. The truth is that if he left King’s Landing it wasn’t because Cersei ordered him to, it was because he truly wants to help.”

 

Jon and Daenerys appeared to consider their words. 

 

“Brienne, would you and Ser Lannister give us a moment to discuss the situation?” Daenerys asked, her voice noticeably less hostile than it had been previously. 

 

She nodded mutley and exited the tent with Jaime at her side, trying not to notice the way he was looking at her.

 

***

 

The crisp winter air bit through Jaime’s armor as he waited outside. However the forest floor still seemed to be more inviting than Daenerys tent. Brienne sat across from him, her face flushed from the cold. 

 

She hadn’t looked at him since her speech inside the tent. The speech where she arguably gave him much more credit than he deserved in front of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. 

 

“Thank you for what you said back there, by the way. I don’t know what’s going to happen next but you didn’t have to help me.”

 

She stared at him for a moment, her blue eyes scanning him over, as though she was trying to memorize him.

 

“Yes I did” Brienne finally responded.

“Well, I suppose it would be nice if we could be fighting on the same side for once”

 

Brienne smiled lightly, but she still seemed hesitant around him. Before he could question her on the matter, though, Podrick emerged from the trees with a smile on his face.

 

“Jon Snow says that you best get to work, Ser Lannister.”

 

Jaime couldn’t help but turn to Brienne, pleasantly surprised when he noted the happiness on her face at Podrick’s announcement. 

 

They’d always had an odd relationship, he wasn’t even sure if he could call them friends. They initially hated each other and were frequently required to work against one another, but there was something about Brienne that he was drawn to. He wanted to try to be the person she seemed to believe he was capable of being, to see if they could somehow have a semi-functional relationship.

 

Even if the world was possibly ending Jaime figured they had to have time for that. 


End file.
